Emmanuel, a volunteer from the diocese of Nantes, spent the night from Saturday to Sunday in police custody as part of the investigation into the fire in Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral. Police custody extended Sunday afternoon " especially due to translation problems ".
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This 39-year-old man, a Rwandan of Catholic faith who arrived in France four or five years ago, " was responsible for closing the cathedral on Friday evening and the investigators wanted to clarify certain elements of his timetable ," the prosecutor told Le Figaro. from Nantes, Pierre Sennès. The more so as some contradictions could be noted in its remarks. He is heard in the presence of an interpreter and his lawyer, Me Quentin Chabert, according to whom nothing " allows at this stage to link [s] one client to the fire ". This mass servant should be released or charged in the evening.
No evidence of forced entry
The man was alone to close the cathedral at 7 p.m. Friday. His mission was to turn off all the night lights, inspect the premises, the confessionals and then close the four doors with four keys. “ Seven volunteers of all confidence take turns every morning at 8 am and in the evenings at 7 pm to open and close the building. It is the same set of keys which goes from hand to hand and which we store in the sacristy before leaving by another small door with another key, "explains the rector, Hubert Champenois. However, we know that no trace of break-in was observed in the building. The prosecutor stresses, however, that “ any interpretation which could implicate this person in the commission of the facts is premature and hasty. We must remain cautious about the interpretation of this police custody, it is a normal procedure ”. He adds that the track of an accident, possibly electrical, is always studied in the same way as the criminal hypothesis.
I don't believe for a second that he could have set the cathedral on fire. It's a place he loves
Jean-Charles Nowak, clerk of the cathedralThe young Rwandan is followed and accommodated by the diocese, like other men. He sought to renew his visa and "was in discussion with the prefecture," said the prosecutor. His requests for refugee status had all been rejected. Could he have harbored resentment? " I don't believe for a second that he could have set the cathedral on fire. It is a place he adores , says Jean-Charles Nowak, cathedral clerk. He is a man of duty, very kind, smiling, but rather quiet. I know that he has many health problems and that he suffered in Rwanda. He rendered service to Father Champenois, who had no one to serve Mass on Saturday evening. He was therefore also regularly serving as a Mass . ”
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The rector of the cathedral regularly met this man, " very pious " who came to pray in the cathedral. He declares to have " total confidence " in him. " It fell on this boy, because it was he who closed the cathedral, " he said.
" Three separate fire points "
If Pierre Sennès opened an investigation for “ arson ” it was because “ three separate fire points ” were noticed by the firefighters when they arrived, around 8 am. " Between the large organ, which is on the facade, and the other lights, you have almost two thirds of the cathedral, " he notes. An element that may seem suspicious at first glance. These three starts of fire, which we still do not know if they are concomitant or successive, were all located next to electrical installations. What could also make think of a problem of failure, hypothesis supported by the rector of the cathedral. However, the electrical installation of the organ had just been examined three days ago by the organ builder. As for that of the cathedral, it was " in good condition, " he says.
Since Saturday, the police have launched a neighborhood investigation around Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul. The experts, who came from the technical and scientific police laboratory of the Paris Prefecture of Police, began to work on Sunday inside the building around two of the fire starts. Some parts may need to be secured before they can intervene without difficulty at the level of the organ platform, located on the first floor.
